THE SINNINGTOX. 161 



"Another pack of wliich I must tell you is the, Sinnington, 

 which claims to be — and I believe with reason — the oldest in 

 England. Here we have still a good example of the way in 

 which our forefathers conducted sport, when there was no local 

 magnate to bear the brunt of the expense in providing it for 

 them, as the hounds are trencher fed, or, in other words, 

 instead of a subscription towards the expenses, each yeoman 

 and farmer keeps a hound or two, as the case may be. The 

 huntsman lives at Kirby Moorside, which, I suppose, we must 

 designate as the head-quarters of the * Sinnington Hunt,' 

 where there is a small kennel, and, the day before hunting, 

 goes round and collects the pack. Of course no feeding is 

 wanted that evening, and he only has to take them to the 

 meet, find his fox, and kill him. The sport over, he troubles 

 no further, but just rides home again; and one of the most 

 amusing sights I ever witnessed is to see the independent 

 manner in which his pack take their different routes. They by 

 no chance go beyond the right turn of the road, but will stop 

 in twos, threes, or singly (as the case may be), sit up on their 

 haunches a few minutes and watch him, as if to make sure that 

 he does not intend to draw again, and, when satisfied on this 

 point, put their sterns over their backs and trot leisurely off. 

 By the time he reaches Kirby Moorside he is entirely deserted, 

 save by a few wdiose quarters are in and about that place. 

 Some of them frequently have to go as far as fifteen miles 

 alone, but they are seldom or never lost, and no instance is 

 known of their killing sheep or doing mischief on the road. 

 The present huntsman, John, or, as he is more generally called, 

 Old Jack Parker, came in 1850, and is a specimen of the old- 

 fashioned, rough-and-ready type of huntsman, now but seldom 

 seen, standing six feet high or upwards. Though an old man, he 

 is as wiry and muscular as ever, and is a sportsman to the back- 

 bone. To use his own expression, he 'comes of a fighting 

 family, and was a bit wild when he was young,' and polished 

 off some rum customers ; though the licking he gave a navvy, 



M 



